Monday, 15 December 2014

Teaching Math to Kindergartners

Teaching
five and six year olds is by no means an easy feat. If anything, it is a
complex challenge in itself and can only be accomplished with persistence and
determination. Children belonging to this age group can be quite a handful and
so whosoever takes it upon themselves the responsibility of making them study
or learn anything for that matter, needs to be a person who can keep themselves
cool and calm at all times. Of all the disciplines taught in kindergarten, kindergarten maths has been found to be
the most daunting of them all, for both teachers and the children.

The
reason behind this is that generally speaking, at all age groups, math is
regarded as the most tedious subject of them all since it requires
concentration and proficient perceptive skills. When actually a child’s
perception about this subject is developed in Kindergarten and that is where
the problem lies. Children are not properly introduced to Kindergarten maths and because of that, from the very start, they
look at the subject as a tiresome burden.

This is
why all pre-schoolers find it hard to focus on the subject as from the very
beginning they come to dislike it and prefer to not give it any of their attention
or interest. However, this can be overcome quite easily if the right
methodology is adopted when teaching kindergarten
maths.

Children should be introduced to the subject in a way that sparks
their interest in the discipline. They should not at all be burdened and should
be taught in the most comprehensive way possible. The best way to do so is by
engaging them while teaching a particular math concept so that they get the
feeling that they are playing a game. This way they will understand the concept
and will also be able to retain it in their mind as it would be something that
they would have a genuine interest in. For instance, the concept of counting
and be taught by making the children count things that are of their interest.
These could be sweets, toys or some other article that the associate with.

Teachers
and parents both who want their kids to learn math in a quick and effective way
need to understand that it is very important to go to the level of the child
and think from their perspective. Bombarding children with new dry and complex
concepts only makes them run away from the whole task of leaning anything. So
it is highly important that they be taught at a pace and in a way that is
ignites their interest and makes them actually want to learn themselves.

Mathematics
is a subject that has a lot of practical applications, so it is quite easy to
come up with ways to teach its various concepts to five year olds by creating
scenarios where they have to practically apply the concept that they are being
taught. This allows for far better comprehension and understanding as well as the
ability to retain the newly learned concept. Children usually are able to
retain things that call for them having to engage in something. For example,
they can be taught numbers in the form of a nursery rhyme.

Teaching
kindergarten maths in a fun and
comprehensive way would not only develop the children’s interest in the
subject, but will also aid them in retaining all of the concepts that they need
to learn. This way, throughout their life they will have a positive outlook
towards math and would be able to readily pick and grasp the concepts taught to
them.